Matt chanced another peek. The skeletons clattered, and surprised seized up in Matt's heart for a moment, but it quickly cooled when they all turned to look at something approaching from the right. Before they or Matt could guess, a fireball sailed into the skeletal ranks, scattering them. a last straggler raised its blade, but a figure leapt onto the street and cut it down with a flash of his own sword.

"What's going on?" Hugo demanded.

"Some guy just came in and killed all the skeletons," Matt said from the corner of his mouth, still watching the newcomer. "Now he's-"

"Who's there?" a voice called, and Matt promptly retreated back into the alleyway.

Wait. Was that...?

Matt's body took control and he dived back out into the street. Eyes wide, he pointed forward, probably at the figure hidden by their cover. "Hey...it's you!"

R.D. quickly followed after Matt, also surprised at the voice. "You gotta be kidding me," he said, surprised at what he saw.

Alasea noted Matt and R.D.'s odd reactions to this newcomer and followed them out onto the street. She halted in her tracks at the sight that unfolded before her, and her eyes lit up in welcome surprise. "Soma!" she said cheerfully. "Soma, is that you?"

Soma Cruz's smile widened. "Alasea! You're here, too?"



"Soma?" Hugo asked, surprised. He walked out into the street just as Soma approached Matt. The two briskly shook hands. "How've you been, man?" Matt asked. "You, uh...you look different from the last time I saw you. Are those new shoes?"

"Not really," Soma said.

"Are you still possessed by Dracula?" Hugo asked, hanging back near R.D.. "Or did you fix that?"

Soma's familiar, grim face returned. "Yes, but it's...gotten a bit more complicated."

"Tell us about it," R.D. commented as he shook Soma's hand. "Things got complicated on us too. What seems to be the problem?"

"Hold on," Alasea said, lifting up a hand. "I'll go get the others."

She turned back and trotted to the alley, finding Helena and Ileyna there. "Come on, you two," she said with a smile. "Its safe. We know where we're at."

With Alasea leading her, Helena took tenative steps out into the open. Soma's face crinkled as he took in the weredragon's dramatically different form. "Helena, is that you?" he asked, his voice soft. "What in the world happened?"

Helena opened her mouth to reply, but she didn't speak or move, unsure how to react. She shot a glance at Matt, who swung next to her. "Soma, you'll have to excuse Helena, here. She's been through some...well, things." He smirked, which would hopefully defuse the situation. "It's complicated, as it were."

"We'll tell you when we can get to a safer place," Alasea said gently. "Its cold out here and its obviously not safe here."

Ileyna looked out at Soma from where she stood, slightly beside and behind Helena. This person seemed to know everyone here, even Helena... did that mean the others had been to this world before? Just who was this guy, anyway?

"We're not in an eclipse again, are we?" R.D. asked, looking around. The moon shone brightly whenever the dank clouds weren't covering it, and it seemed to be normal in appearance, but he didn't feel like taking chances. "Last thing we need is that castle causing more problems."

"No," Soma said. He began slushing down the street and the rest followed. "When I sealed the essence of Dracula, the castle in the eclipse collapsed since it was tied to his spirit. We're in the real world now."

Fortunately the walk wasn't very long. Soma led them to a antique, two-story building cast in dull grey, though they could see light leaking through the windows upstairs. Soma rapped the door with his knuckles. "It's Soma."

"I'm comin'," a gruff voice answered. After the sound of several locks undoing themselves, the door opened, revealing a powerful man in army gear. "Hey there, Soma! Uh...who're these people? Friends of yers?"

"Yo," R.D. greeted, raising a hand to the soldier. He was distinctly aware that none of them were really dressed in more modern clothing... even though what they were wearing looked more appropriate for the place they were at. "We helped Soma back at Dracula's castle."

Dracula's castle? Ileyna thought anxiously. Just what kind of world were they in??

The man's face lit up. "Really? So y'all are those kids Soma told me about?" He slapped Soma on the shoulder, and the boy visibly winced. "Well, why didn't ya say so? Come on in, now! I was just about to whip up some of my famous beef-"

At this point he noticed the tips of Helena's wings, and when he craned his head to get a full view of the weredragon, he leapt back with a yelp. "WHOA! S-Soma!" he cried, pointing with a trembling finger. "B-Behind you! One of them demons snuck up while we was talkin'!"

Soma sighed. Matt figured he did that a lot when talking to this man, for some reason. "That's Helena, one of the friends I mentioned," he said. "She looks a bit different, but trust me, she's a good person."

"R-Really?" The man wiped his brow. "Whoo! Uh...well, if Soma says your his friend, then that's okay by me!"

Matt pointed at his feet. "By the way, this is our robot. He's called Hugo." He pointed to all the others in turn. "She can fly, he can summon super armor, she can bend reality. There. No more surprises."

"Can we come in now?" Alasea asked exasperatedly. "Its freezing out here."

"We all need to exchange stories anyway," R.D. pointed out. "Might as well get our bearings here."

"Hammer, who in the world is at the door?" a female shouted from the other room. "If it's Soma, let him in already!"

The man, now finally with a name they can use, waved curtly towards the hallway. "Yes, ma'am, Miss Yoko!" He gestured at the comfortable-looking sofa and burning fireplace they could spot by leaning to the left. "Well, come on in, then! I'm Hammer. Make yourselves comfortable."

They shook the snow off their feet before they entered the house, and Alasea and Ileyna quickly sat themselves on the sofa near the fireplace. R.D. remained closer to the door, as an old habit when they usually had to hide out in an enemy-infested territory.

"Now all we need is Arikado to pop up out of nowhere to scare the hell out of Matt," R.D. commented as he leaned up against the wall.

"All I need is for you to shut up," Matt said with a point. He settled in a big green chair while Helena stood next to the fireplace, where she bent down and began warming her claws.

A woman in red and black entered the room just then, noticing Soma leaning against the wall with his arms folded. "Hello, Soma," she said. "Is there anything you need?"



"Just to talk," Soma said. "But while I was coming here, I found some old friends, so I decided to invite them inside and catch up with what they've been doing."

The woman looked at the fireplace where the group had gathered. "...talk about a motley crew," she said after studying them for a few moments.

"Could be worse," R.D. shot back. "Could be Speedy's crew instead of us. Or Kamina."

Alasea couldn't help but giggle at that. "So, before we get started, introductions all around?" she suggested, putting her hands in her lap.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 21, 2010 at 17:16:58.

"I'm Yoko," the woman said, laying a hand over her heart. "This is Hammer. He used to be in the military, but now he helps me with my research."

"Hey, now, I run an honest business, too," Hammer said, waving down the issue. "More people wanna buy the weapons and armor I find around here than ya think. But for now, yeah, I help around here and make sure Soma doesn't get ground into a pulp."

"I'm Matt," Matt said. He swept his hand across the room. "This is R.D., Alasea, Ileyna, Helena, and Hugo."

"I don't think you've met Ileyna yet, Soma," Alasea said as the younger girl nervously leaned against the teenager's side as she looked about the room and at the three people she didn't know. "She'll be helping us deal with whatever's waiting for us in that castle out there."

"Why, she's just a little lass!" Hammer said, crouching down to Ileyna's level. "You sure it's all right for her to get into danger?"

"Nobody hurts her and lives," came Hugo's steely reply. "We'll keep her safe."

Let's keep the conversation going. "So, what is this place, anyway?" Matt asked.

"It's the hideout of a religious cult," Soma said. "Ever since I sealed the power of Dracula within me, the cult thinks the world needs a dark lord to replace him. Apparently, without ultimate evil, there can't be ultimate good."

"You keep mentioning Dracula," Helena said. She settled on her bottom into a strange, crosslegged position, tail curling round her leg. "I always thought Dracula was...older."

Soma's face crinkled again. "I told you about it, remember? My power to dominate the souls of monsters? That's the power of Dracula."

"Dracula?" Ileyna said faintly. She never was able to deal well with horror stories.

Well, time for the next uncomfortable revelation. If its not revealing our origins, its talking about Helena, R.D. thought ruefully. I'm surprised none of us have needed therapy yet.

"Helena doesn't remember anything of our past adventure," R.D. explained. "She... she was killed at the end of our journey. When our new quest started, we found her revived on a different world, but she has no memory of anything that happened before that."

"...killed?" Soma repeated.

Helena couldn't look him in the eye now. "I don't really understand it either, Soma...I'm sorry I don't remember you."

"It's all right," Soma said. "We didn't know each other for long, but you and the others were a huge help to me."

"So, someone is trying to make another Dracula?" Alasea asked to change the topic. "Like another Graham?"

"I hope not," R.D. muttered. "Graham was a pain in the ass to kill."

"The cult has two candidates for the next dark lord," Yoko said. "And they're also trying to kill Soma so the candidates can go unchallenged."

"No wonder you look so sour!" Matt laughed, to which Soma replied with a glare.

Yoko quickly quelled Soma's expression with a frown of her own. "Soma actually charged in to try and settle matters on his own. But since we prefer him alive, we've all grouped together to help him out. Although I wish he'd wouldn't walk around by himself out there."

"Not my fault," Soma said. "I have no idea where Julius or Arikado went. And Hammer needs to stay here and look after you."

Yoko flashed a tiny smile. "Oh? And here I thought it was the other way around."

"H-Hey!" Hammer cut in, clenching a fist. "I can take care of myself just fine, thank you very much!"

Julius? That was a new name. "Who's Julius?" Matt asked.

"He's with the church," Yoko answered. "Descended from a long line of vampire hunters who opposed Dracula over the years. At least, until 1999, when Dracula was finally defeated."

R.D. looked over at Alasea as she sat on the couch. "Think you can locate them in the castle?" he asked of her.

"I think so," Alasea said. "If not both of them, Arikado at least. There was something strange about him when we first met him... I just need to remember that weird feeling from back then."

R.D. nodded. Before he could speak up again, Ileyna fought down her nervousness and spoke up. "You said there were two candidates, right?" she asked, looking bothered by something.

"Yes," Yoko said. "What's wrong?"

The disheartened girl looked off to the side, wringing her hands a bit. "Knowing our luck, what're the odds that those two are the ones I detected when we got here?" she asked her friends.

There was a pregnant pause following her question, and then R.D. dropped his head into one hand. "Shit."

Matt couldn't help but crack a grin. "Great, now she's bitter and disillusioned, just like we are."

"What do ya mean, 'detected'?" Hammer asked. "What's goin' on?"

"We're dimensional travellers looking for the pieces of a powerful artifact," Hugo explained. "It's called Omega Essence, and whenever it combines with someone, that person gains incredible powers. We need to get it back."

Yoko looked at Soma. "That's not good."

"What?" Matt asked.

"The candidates were both born in 1999," Yoko said. "On the same day Dracula was defeated for good. Just like Graham Jones, the man you fought with Soma. Because of that, we have reason to believe they have special abilities just like Graham did."

"The Essence can supplement existing powers or grant new ones or both at once when its bonded to a host," R.D. said. "If these two candidates already have powers like Dracula's, then we're all in trouble."

"We'll need to be careful when we go after them," Alasea said. "Its hard enough getting Ileyna near the Essence so she can extract it."

"Then all of us should go together!" Hammer said. "With all of us fightin', we'll take down those two, no problem!"

Soma sighed. Again. "Hammer, I know you want to help out, but these guys are too powerful for normal people to take on."

Hammer humped, slapping his hands on his hips. "Like that's stopped me before. I may not be paid to fight anymore, but if it's to help ya, then I'll take anyone on."

Helena rolled her claws in the air. "You didn't look that eager to fight me," she said, grinning.

"W-Well, uh, you caught me by surprise, that's all."

"I'm with Soma on this one," R.D. said, standing up from the wall. "The less regulars we have around for us to worry about, the better a chance we'll have of beating these two. Plus there might be others in the castle who are after us specifically."

"You really think we'll...?" Alasea trailed off, looking worried.

"Malvettix... probably not. But I wouldn't overrule one of Magister's goons coming after us in there," R.D. said.

"We have a backstory with some villians," Matt explained with a sweep of his arms, as if that would clear the whole matter.

"That's what I thought," Soma said. Well, guess it did. He pushed himself off the wall. "We'd better get going, then. Hammer, stay here with Yoko. That way, if Julius or Arikado show up, you can tell them where I went."

Hammer humphed again. "Fine, fine. I can see where I'm not wanted. Well, if you think you've got it under control, I'll leave it to ya. Just don't get into too much trouble, all right?"

"I won't."

"Man, now I gotta get up again," Matt complained, pushing himself out of the chair with dramatic effort. "The saga never ends."

R.D. was the first outside, and gave a sweep of the area before calling that it was clear. There were no skeletons or demons in sight.

"Is this castle anything like Dracula's?" Alasea asked Soma as they stepped outside. She wrapped her cloak tighter around her as she stepped out.